


Wish You Were Here (two lost souls)

by Anonymous



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Angst, Canon Disabled Character, Character Death, Charles Xavier Needs a Hug, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Hopeful Ending, Injury Recovery, Kid David Haller, Permanent Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29977134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Charles has lost both his wife and the use of his legs. But he still has his son.
Relationships: David Haller & Charles Xavier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8
Collections: X-Men Rare Pairs 2021





	Wish You Were Here (two lost souls)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hllfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hllfire/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [hllfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hllfire/pseuds/hllfire) in the [xmenrarepairs21](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenrarepairs21) collection. 



> Based on a prompt from hllfire.
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Charles is a single dad taking care of his son and figuring out how to not completely traumatize a child considering he didn't have good parents himself.
> 
> Bonus points for disabled Charles. +Bonus points for neurodivergent David (if not DID, maybe ADHD and/or autistic David!)
> 
> Syd, I really didn't intend to write something this angsty. I hope you like it anyway.
> 
> Title swiped from Pink Floyd.

David was crying. Again.

Charles wheeled over to his son’s crib, lifted him out, cradled him in his arms. He felt David’s distress start to ebb as he settled into his papa’s arms, then it spiked again.

Charles brushed his mind against his son’s, hoping to glean the source of the problem. At just past six months, David didn’t have clear thoughts yet, but Charles was learning to read his moods and emotions.

The world was too bright, too loud, just too much everything, and the arms holding him were not the ones he wanted.

Fuck.

Charles cuddled his son a little closer, knowing David wanted his mama, knowing that she was irretrievably gone, killed in the same accident that had cost him the use of his legs. "I miss her, too," he murmured, kissing the top of David's head.

He shifted David to his left arm, his right hand going to his wheel rim, rocking gently back and forth, and David began to calm.

Raven appeared in the doorway. "Everything okay?" Her golden eyes reflected concern, but not the bone-deep worry he'd so often seen there these last months.

Charles met her gaze."He's missing his mama," he said, then added more quietly, "So am I." It was still so damned hard, especially when he stirred in the middle of the night, to roll over and spoon Gabby, only to be confronted anew with an empty bed and a paralyzed body.

Raven closed the distance between them folded him wnd David into a gentle embrace. She didn't bother with any empty platitudes, all those trite phrases declaring everythng would be okay that made Charles want to scream.

Maybe it would be okay, someday, but right now his wife was dead, two-thirds of his body refused to obey his command (nor would it ever do so again), and the months spent in hospitals meant that his infant son scarcely recognized him, and all of that absolutely sucked rotten eggs.

He lost himself in Raven's arms for a long minute, drawing comfort from her strength. Then he drew back, looking deep into her amber eyes. "Thank you," he said, "both you and Irene. I couldn't have managed without you."

"You're my brother," she said simply as she looked down at a still-fretful David. "Now how about we get you two set up in the armchair? That usually soothes him."

He felt a momentary sting, knowing that his sister knew his son better than he did, but he pushed it aside. "Take him for a moment while I get settled."

Raven held David while he wheeled over to the armchair, transferred over, then arranged his useless feet flat on the floor. She handed him the sling that let him keep David swaddled against his chest, waited until he had David secured, then brushed kisses against their foreheads in turn. "Good night," she said as he made sure both his chair and the baby carrier werein easy reach. "Love you both."

"Love you, too," Charles replied quietly.

He rocked his son gently until he grew peaceful, as soothed by the motion and the contact as David was. They weren't all right, not yet, maybe not for a while yet, but they had each other and their crazy little family-of-choice, and that might just be enough. 

Time would tell.


End file.
